National Geographic 1983. I-II. (nem teljes évfolyam) [antikvár]

DÁVID AND CAROL HUGHES THE RAINS FELL every day during most of the 18 months that Dávid and Carol Hughes spent in Costa Rica filming "Rain Forest," a new National Geographic TV Special to be shown January 12 on Public Television. Yet sometimes shelter was as close as the nearest giant leaf. The moisture that attacked their equipment and morale was only one of their many problems. At one point, Carol was poisoned by a potent caterpillar. "It was red and white and covered with long hairs," she said. "It feli off a branch as I was photographing it and gently brushed my arm. I felt a slight sting right away that slowly built into intense pain, spreading up my arm and into my chest. I really wondered whether this was it." However, the pain gradually ebbed away, leaving Carol unharmed but more wary. To film somé of their most remarkable scenes-like the ants inside the thorn of an acacia tree-the couple used fiber-optic probes to control tiny beams of light. More often, they captured images through sheer determination and patience. A collection of their photographs appears in this issue. "Rain Forest" is the third special the awardwinning filmmakers have produced for the Society and WQED/Pittsburgh with support from the Gulf Oil Corporation. The others were "Etosha: Place of Dry Water" and "The Living Sands of Namib." A new film on African animals of the night is in the works. For photographer James P. Blair (below, left), who covered the story of earth's dwindling rain forests for two years, sharing a dugout with fellow traveler Bob Langenwalter on the Tapanahoni River in Suriname was a welcome break. After visiting so many areas where the forests were being destroyed, it was a joy, he said, to glide down an unspoiled waterway through an untouched forest. "Even the rain was refreshing." Jim's travels during 20 years on the Geographic staff have taken him from the quiet islands of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic to the riot-torn black townships of South Africa, coverage that won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1977. For the rain forest story, he visited 11 nations on four continents, demonstrating the magazine's commitment, he said, to do comprehensive reporting. "To a photographer, that's one of the greatest gifts." WILBUR E. GARRETT